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A Hotter Sun May Be Contributing To Global Warming

Posted by timothy on from the or-a-shrinking-orbit dept.

no reason to be here writes "The sun seems to be getting hotter. Total radiation output has increased .05% per decade since the 1970s. This article over at Yahoo! News has the scoop. Though .05% may not seem like much, if it has been going on for the last century or more (and circumstantial evidence suggest that it has), it could be a significant factor in the increase in global average temperature noticed during the 20th century."

3 of 530 comments (clear)

  1. Palm Trees by smillie · · Score: 5, Informative
    One of the more interesting things my geologist friend pointed out to me was the fossel recond in Michigan (for our European friends, Michigan is a state on the border with Canada). We have palm tree fossels all over Michigan. Our current climate won't support palms now but some time long ago Michigan was much warmer than it is now.

    He also mentioned that Michigan was buried under about a mile of ice at one time too.

    These weather changes were long before man came on the scene. I'm all for Michigan becoming tropical again but that is likely to cause problems for the southern part of the US.

    --

    Dyslexics Untie!

  2. He warns us *NOT* to assume this means CO2 is OK by Guy+Harris · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article says

    That does not mean industrial pollution has not been a significant factor, Willson cautioned.

    so, no, this

    • is not just some evil US/oil company plot to discredit the idea that greenhouse gases contribute to global warming;
    • is not an indication that all those people saying that greenhouse gases contribute to global warming were wrong and we don't have to worry about continuing to burn fossil fuels.

    Note, for instance, that the article also says

    In what could be the simplest explanation for one component of global warming, a new study shows the Sun's radiation has increased by .05 percent per decade since the late 1970s.

    The increase would only be significant to Earth's climate if it has been going on for a century or more, said study leader Richard Willson, a Columbia University researcher also affiliated with NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

    (emphasis mine).

    I.e., they have only observed it over a approximately 20-year period, so they don't know whether it's been going on for a century or more, but if it hasn't, it wouldn't make a significant difference to the climate.

  3. Re:arrogance - Don't kid yourself. by CemeteryWall · · Score: 5, Informative
    some of this is from an earlier post earlier post

    Let me say it again. Look at these graphs. The data, taken from ice core studies, shows four ice-ages in the past 400k years. For each dip of the CO2 graph there is a similar dip in the temperature graph showing a high degree of correlation. The extended CO2 graph shows an enormous increase in CO2, over the past century, well outside the range of the past 400k years. This recent rise is almost a vertical jump, indicating we may be changing the climate drastically.

    It is possible that the sun has some effect in triggering these cycles but these graphs show such a large correlation between CO2 and temperature that it is impossible not to believe the scientists of the IPCC. Yes, human activity is causing global warming. (In the UK we experience this now as global wetting - with increased heavy rainshowers).

    To me your reaction sounds just like those "smoking doesn't cause cancer" line from the 1960s. Don't kid yourself.